Food casings generally provide form and packaging properties to food products. However, it is often desirable that the food casings provide additional functionality to the food products. Some examples of desirable functionality include the transfer of color, flavor, surface decoration, preservatives, or antimicrobial agents.
In general, multicomponent systems are used as coatings on a food casing to impart desirable properties to a food surface. However, because these systems require the use of multiple different compounds to emulsify and form a coherent coating, use of these systems can be cumbersome and technically complex.